Monday, February 16, 2009

Running Without A Nut Job

It was one of those days where getting out of bed was a bad idea. Late for work, I spilled my Chocolate Mocha before so much as a taste. My co-workers were behaving worse than usual and the ban on peanut butter was really starting to stress me out.

You get the picture. I needed a good run.

After work I changed into my running clothes and looked for somebody to run with, but there wasn't a nut job in sight. I was alone in the world.

Moment of Truth

With no other choice I decided to run by myself.

I grabbed my mp3 player loaded with such running classics as "Wipeout", the all time best song to finish a race with, and "Knock Three Times", by the Partridge Family. Who needs a running partner when you can have David Cassidy?!

TheLoner Concept

The lone runner has been romanticized in the movies as serene and composed. They are one with nature. Profound Thoreau-like thoughts go through their minds;

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854)

I admit, my thoughts are not quite at the "Thoreau Level" when I'm out there, but every now and then, a solitary run has taken me a few steps closer to Happy Land.

This was not one of those times. I was sore and tired and cranky. Maybe it was better that I was alone for this one. Misery might love company, but company does not always love misery.

As usually happens, somewhere during the first mile I began to shake off my moodiness. By the time my run was over, I was feeling better. Not Nirvana-better, but good enough.

As for tomorrow's run, enough of the solitude, I want my nut job back.